Attackers Kill Algerian Lawmaker

Published 8:00 pm, Friday, July 4, 2003

Suspected Islamic militants killed an Algerian lawmaker and three other people at a roadblock east of the capital, security officials said Saturday.

Rabah Radja, a deputy with the majority National Liberation Front, was killed Friday in the region he represented, Kabyle, 70 miles east of Algiers, the officials said.

APS, the official news agency, said the lawmaker and one other person died. However, security officials told The Associated Press that four people in all were killed at the same roadblock, including a police officer and a customs official.

No group claimed responsibility, but Islamic extremists often ambush vehicles at roadblocks as a tactic to rob and kill travelers.

The North African nation has been struggling to end an 11-year Islamic insurgency that has left about 120,000 people dead. Rebels are trying to topple the military-backed government.

Many militants turned in their weapons when the government offered a partial amnesty. Others kept their guns, hiding out in forests and scrubland.

Algerian's insurgency erupted in 1992 when the army canceled legislative elections that a fundamentalist party was poised to win.